Lymphedema affects millions worldwide – with no cure – and is treated by managing its symptoms. Failure of a lymphatic vessel leads to loss of pumping activity and there have been attempts to address this condition by regrowing new lymphatic vessels. For the first time now, researchers from USA have developed a novel treatment to repair lymphatic vessel (LV) pumping instead. They used nanoparticles (NPs) made of polypropylene sulfide to encapsulate a muscle contraction drug, Bay K8644 (BayK).
BayK-NP improved vessel function in terms of contraction, movement, and pumping pressure as compared to the free form of BayK. The controlled release of the drug also reduced its side effects. This breakthrough paves the way to explore the use of nanoparticles to deliver targeted drugs in combination with existing therapies, opening several possibilities for patients with cancer- and…
